In a groundbreaking collaboration, Meta, the parent company of popular social networking platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, has teamed up with the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA). This collective effort aims to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address consumer grievances more effectively across India.

The initiative, spearheaded by NLSIU, marks the launch of a pioneering consumer law project supported by Meta. IIT Bombay and DoCA will play pivotal roles in this venture. The primary focus is on utilizing advanced language models, specifically the Llama2 open-source LLM developed by Meta, to revamp the country's consumer grievance redressal system. This involves the creation of an AI-powered chatbot tailored to assist consumers in understanding their rights and navigating legal procedures related to consumer disputes.

Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU, expressed the institution's dedication to leveraging AI for legal innovation. He emphasized that the project aims to enhance awareness of consumer rights and provide accessible assistance by utilizing Llama2. NLSIU's multidisciplinary research expertise positions it uniquely to pioneer such applications of large language models. The university plans to curate an extensive repository of Indian legal resources to address consumer disputes effectively and train the Llama model accordingly.

The envisioned chatbot will cater directly to consumers, offering guidance in drafting complaints and providing clarifications on consumer law inquiries. To ensure accuracy and relevance, the language model will be trained using pertinent Indian legal documents. The overarching goal is to introduce sophisticated AI technologies into India's legal system, potentially paving the way for significant legal reforms if the project proves successful and unveils further technological applications over time.

Joel Kaplan, Vice President of Global Policy at Meta, highlighted the company's commitment to collaborative research and open innovation in AI. Meta's support for NLSIU's research initiatives employing Llama2 underscores their belief in technology's potential to benefit society at large. The aim is to encourage more researchers, developers, and startups to explore and experiment with AI technology for varied applications and opportunities.

The chatbot's functionality aims to assist consumers when they encounter issues, guiding them through the complaint drafting process and providing insights into consumer law. Simultaneously, the decision assist tool targets judicial authorities, facilitating easy access to pertinent case laws and document summaries to aid decision-making. Notably, human oversight and control will remain integral throughout the process, emphasizing the responsible implementation of AI. NLSIU and IIT Bombay will additionally produce a risk mitigation white paper detailing the principles of responsible design embedded at each level of the technology stack.

Leading the project for IIT Bombay, Pushpak Bhattacharyya highlighted the immense potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) like Meta's Llama 2 in driving societal benefits through AI. This collaboration aims to address the intricate challenges of domain-specific tasks such as consumer law by leveraging their extensive expertise in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and LLMs.

The collaboration between Meta, NLSIU, IIT Bombay, and DoCA represents a significant step towards integrating AI-driven solutions into India's legal framework, promising a more accessible and efficient consumer grievance redressal system for the country.